Your younger years might be heralded as the glory days, but there’s something to be said for aging. Arguably you’re more financially stable, emotionally adept, and have a collection of skills to your name.

Case in point: a study from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences has found people are the happiest at two different ages – and neither is high school.

The study asked 23,000 adults from the ages of 17 to 85 on how satisfied they were with their lives overall. It also asked them to predict how they thought they would feel about their lives in five years. The same people were then asked to retake the survey five years later. Their findings? Our levels of happiness seem to follow a U-shaped curve between the ages of 20 to 70, with our joy peaking at the ages of 23 and 69.

Our levels of happiness seem to follow a U-shaped curve between the ages of 20 to 70, with our joy peaking at the ages of 23 and 69.

Although probably not the ages you would have guessed, it does make logical sense. At 23, most of us have completed some tertiary studies and are leaping into the career world. Meanwhile, at 69, many have settled into retirement and have a level of financial freedom.

So why are there so many years between the estimated ages of when you hit peak happiness? Researchers concluded that younger people tend to overestimate their future life satisfaction while older people tend to underestimate it. Plus, a lot happens in those decades in between peaks, like switching careers, starting a family or traveling – all of which can affect your level of satisfaction.

Just don’t peg your happiness on a magic number. Find what makes you happy and do it today. It could be blocking out an hour each Sunday afternoon to catch up on reading email newsletters. Maybe it’s buying the good organic granola. Whatever it is, the little things make up the main count.